A report on Friday claims Apple is working to incorporate a new built-in app dubbed "Healthbook" into its next iOS iteration, with the software able to track everything from food intake to glucose levels.

Citing sources familiar with the plans, 9to5Mac claims the codenamed "Healthbook" will be able tap into data from advanced sensors possibly built into next-generation iOS devices -- including the so-called "iWatch" -- to track a variety of metrics via a swipe-able card UI.

On the health side, "Healthbook" can reportedly track blood pressure, hydration level, heart rate and even glucose level measurements. As for blood readings, Apple's recent hire of Michael O'Reilly may play an integral role in the development of such technology. Prior to joining Apple, O'Reilly was the chief medical officer and executive vice president of medical affairs at pulse oximeter firm Masimo Corporation.

In addition to data aggregation, the app may have hooks into other first-party software like Calendar and Reminders, allowing users to create medication reminders. In its final form, "Healthbook" could be a one-stop solution for nearly all things medical.

As for fitness, the app is said to include the usual steps taken and distance measurement data, while adding in daily caloric intake and weight tracking.

Perhaps the most interesting implication of an app like "Healthbook" is the hardware needed to generate raw data -- hardware that does not yet exist in Apple's ecosystem. Currently, Apple's M7 motion coprocessor allows for accurate measurement of step and distance traveled, but falls short of physical body readings like those purportedly coming with the new app.

One answer would be the intorduction of a peripheral device, such as a watch, that incorporates advanced components like a thermometer, galvanic skin response sensor, blood oximeter and more. Data can then be offloaded to an iPhone via Bluetooth, processed and recorded.

Apple's timeline for a rollout of the supposed app and corresponding hardware is largely unknown, but it can be expected that a next-generation iOS and iPhone will be released as per the company's usual annual product cycle.

Adding fuel to the rumor fire, a The New York Times report on Friday noted Apple SVP of Operations Jeff Williams, VP of Software and Technology Bud Tribble, Michael O'Reilly and government affairs counsel Tim Powderly met with the FDA in December to discuss "mobile medical applications." The nature and outcome of the meet-up remains unknown.

Hi, I'm a Wall Street analyst and this pie-in-the-sky rumor does not match what our internal predictions are for iOS8. We are expecting Apple to release a native portfolio tracking application, that allows high-wealth customers to track their net worth with hourly alerts.

Since this rumor does not match our real predictions, I am downgrading Apple to a SELL.

The M7 is part of where Apple is headed; Apple likes to prepare the hardware ahead of time to handle the next big thing, so recent purchasers don't get butt-hurt. A simple change to firmware and the 5s is ready to go and Apple will have a 50 to 100 million user installed base (albeit maybe not full-featured like the iPhone 6), starting out day one.

Perhaps you may have noticed the up-tick in articles relating to food waste, both in the USA and Europe. If the new device could help with that one thing, the cost of the device would be recovered in less then a year. How tough would that be to market??!

"That (the) world is moving so quickly that iOS is already amongst the older mobile operating systems in active development today." — The Verge

I suspect that healthbook will either be a free downloaded app to go with some iWatch rig. Or it will be like Newsstand and passbook, an auto congregating faux app that developers can link to. Such that your data from several apps can be in one place.

Such apps could be very useful. They could also perhaps create a social feed 'app' that buckets your social networks Newsstand style but gives you a 'front page' of all your feeds together. Either 'ticket' style like Passbook or in one mass feed by date and time.

Perhaps even Passbook might bucket the apps that use it.

Although with any of them I would hope there would be a user control for each app so that we could decide if we want to use it or keep things separate. Even if it was all or nothing for each group

From what I remember reading (sorry, forgot the source) it seems as though they plan to use a microneedle array of some sort that measures interstitial fluid (basically the fluid in the tissue but outside of your blood vessels). Apparently it just feels like sandpaper. Needless to say, if Apple can get the FDA to approve it as a replacement for finger sticks this will be truly revolutionary.

I was hiking with my MD daughter and I showed her an heart rate app, where I put my index finger over the iPhone camera lens and flash, hold for about 15 seconds and it gives me my heart rate.

She then held my wrist looked at her watch and got the same number. Pretty cool.

I don't know who had it first but it's a clever repurposing of included camera and flash but I discovered this in the XMotion app after the iPhone 5S was released. One thing I wonder is if Apple would make heart/pulse monitoring something that it always working or make it something you have to actively do. The pros of being constant and automatic are that it removes the user from having to do anything and it can get more data over longer periods which could lead to better warnings and/or results. The downsides are battery costs and needing a device that is so close to the body that it's probably not only uncomfortable but also impractical outside of just being a sports-related device. Checking it on occasion is probably good enough, and Apple could design it to remind you to check it at various intervals and then keep your iCloud Healthbook data automatically cataloged, graphed, and analyzed for you.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

I don't know who had it first but it's a clever repurposing of included camera and flash but I discovered this in the XMotion app after the iPhone 5S was released. One thing I wonder is if Apple would make heart/pulse monitoring something that it always working or make it something you have to actively do. The pros of being constant and automatic are that it removes the user from having to do anything and it can get more data over longer periods which could lead to better warnings and/or results. The downsides are battery costs and needing a device that is so close to the body that it's probably not only uncomfortable but also impractical outside of just being a sports-related device. Checking it on occasion is probably good enough, and Apple could design it to remind you to check it at various intervals and then keep your iCloud Healthbook data automatically cataloged, graphed, and analyzed for you.

Yep, a lot of considerations....I know you know this, but I think the M7 has been designed, i.e., low pwr demand for exactly the things you describe. In other words an always on approach. Imagine the Apple iWatch on your wrist detecting your HR and sending it to your iPhone.

Also, Heart Variability Testing is becoming quite popular. You wake up and before you get out of bed you take your HR and based on the results it can tell you if this morning is a good time to go for a run or it's best to wait another day for recovery. Pretty cool.

I take your point that Sports and Fitness seem to be the easier applications to start with as opposed to say, "senior health." No sarcasm, intended.

Samsung will add something similar to their next phone and claim they thought of it first just to beat Apple to the headline.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbehunin

Yawn.

For people like me who use a downloaded app (MyFitnessPal) it would be nice to have a fully fleshed out Apple app that has more options and can easily be tied into and used across Apple hardware.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogifan

How exactly is Apple planning to do glucose level measurements?

You must either urinate or cut your finger and bleed onto the screen. /jk obviously

But really, I have a glucose app on my phone where I test my blood the conventional way and enter the results and details into the app to keep track of it and show my doctor. Guessing this is what Apple will ofter, not actually a way to use the phone to test your blood sugar.

For people like me who use a downloaded app (MyFitnessPal) it would be nice to have a fully fleshed out Apple app that has more options and can easily be tied into and used across Apple hardware.

You must either urinate or cut your finger and bleed onto the screen. /jk obviously

But really, I have a glucose app on my phone where I test my blood the conventional way and enter the results and details into the app to keep track of it and show my doctor. Guessing this is what Apple will ofter, not actually a way to use the phone to test your blood sugar.

They may have accessories. Aren't there glucose measuring devices already? Hook em up.

Raman spectroscopy is clinically accurate, works in a highly absorbing and scattering environment (skin) and perhaps, just maybe, could be miniaturised. Further, a multitude of analyses can be performed. I think Apple is about to revolutionise health care with a bloody phone.

This is just the app. How sensors will be attached, work and communicate with the app is for Apple to know and us to speculate. Aha ok there is no reliable glucose sensor available now but it will come. Maybe Google's contact lens will communicate with this alleged app?

With 3 out of 4 Americans either overweight or obese, I think Apple is onto something here.

Yes, and more importantly, and awful lot of Americans, and people of other nationalities, too I'm pretty sure, are over the age of 55. A great many of those people have a direct interest in measuring their state of physical health and for every year that passes the percentage of that group will increase.
This is a very big deal, I suspect. Not only will it help people in a real way whilst making Apple shed loads of money, it may represent a big health care saving.

Yes, and more importantly, and awful lot of Americans, and people of other nationalities, too I'm pretty sure, are over the age of 55. A great many of those people have a direct interest in measuring their state of physical health and for every year that passes the percentage of that group will increase.
This is a very big deal, I suspect. Not only will it help people in a real way whilst making Apple shed loads of money, it may represent a big health care saving.

Good point about the age factor, Paxman.

I would much rather be thirty and 30#'s overweight than 55-65 and 30#'s overweight. Much more difficult to lose the weight once you're old.

I read somewhere (sorry don't recall the source), it's estimated that every pound of the overweight or obese population costs $50 in health care costs.

My MD daughter is doing part of her residency at the County hospital and she says most people she is seeing are obese. Also, most with drug and alcohol addictions.

I only mention the above because I think the iWatch/apps connection will help people to be more aware of their health.

Remarkably, in 1950, 50% of the US adult population smoked! Now it's down to ~20%. Still too high, to be sure, but a major improvement, nonetheless.

Perhaps we can achieve something similar with healthy food. And stop eating "food-like" crap from the likes of Coke, Pepsi, Gatorade, Pizza Hut, General Mills, McDonald's, etc., etc.

I agree with earlier post. This health apparatus is applicable toa host of healthcare environments, beyond iOS health and fitness enthusiats. Hospitals , care facilities, shut in populations, other populations with a need to be administered and medically evaluated. So the Longview is medical use professional use enlarging the addressable population by tenfold. With IBeacon or iOS it is a tremendous opportunity for Apple

I would much rather be thirty and 30#'s overweight than 55-65 and 30#'s overweight. Much more difficult to lose the weight once you're old.

I read somewhere (sorry don't recall the source), it's estimated that every pound of the overweight or obese population costs $50 in health care costs.

My MD daughter is doing part of her residency at the County hospital and she says most people she is seeing are obese. Also, most with drug and alcohol addictions.

I only mention the above because I think the iWatch/apps connection will help people to be more aware of their health.

Remarkably, in 1950, 50% of the US adult population smoked! Now it's down to ~20%. Still too high, to be sure, but a major improvement, nonetheless.

Perhaps we can achieve something similar with healthy food. And stop eating "food-like" crap from the likes of Coke, Pepsi, Gatorade, Pizza Hut, General Mills, McDonald's, etc., etc.

Anyway, I'm rambling! :)

Best.

Hi Christopher, hope I can jump in here. Your daughter is correct! You really see a different side of society in county hospitals. Sadly, there is a huge fraction of the population out there that lives terribly.. poor life skills, poor health, mental illness, domestic abuse, substance abuse. Compliance is a huge issue with this population, and monitoring such as what Apple seems to be working on could go a long way towards improving outcomes. Something that hasn't really been talked much about yet is the mental health aspect of monitoring biological functions. Biofeedback and monitoring of stats such as heart rate variability could also be very beneficial. As the ACE Study (acestudy.org) in particular has has shown, there is a direct causative relationship between mental and physical health.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Perhaps they can scan the Iris and look for discoloration patterns? Issues with swelling and more in the eyes are indicative of glucose imbalance.

I don't think much can be gleaned from looking at the iris. Looking at the optic disk in the back of the eye can give information about intracranial pressure and vessel disease, but this requires dilated pupils, bright light, and a precise angle.

What could be really cool is if you could monitor health stats of multiple i-band through a single iphone. This way you can constantly monitor your parents stats and be alerted if something goes wrong.

I'm still waiting for an SOS button or something on the lock screen for vital info during an emergency if you're unconscious from an accident. i.e. Phone numbers, allergies or current medication.... Seems like a no brainer.

I'm open to the possibility that an Apple "smart" wristwatch and a "health" sensor/monitor might be two distinct devices. I don't have any specific ideas what they might look like but it just feels that with all the various functions being speculated about there is maybe too much for a single device. Just a thought.

With 3 out of 4 Americans either overweight or obese, I think Apple is onto something here.

Another way to interpret that information (3 out of 4 people overweight or obese) is that people don't like exercise. Therefore selling an exercise product is not likely to be successful, or at least if it is successful it will be within a small market.

From what I remember reading (sorry, forgot the source) it seems as though they plan to use a microneedle array of some sort that measures interstitial fluid (basically the fluid in the tissue but outside of your blood vessels). Apparently it just feels like sandpaper. Needless to say, if Apple can get the FDA to approve it as a replacement for finger sticks this will be truly revolutionary.

I wouldn't get hopes up too high on glucose level detecting in the iWatch. This rumor is based on the acquisition by Apple of one of the researchers of Sano Intelligence, a company that is developing a patch that can detect glucose levels. However this technology is property of Sano Intelligence (and C8, but their tech failed in measuring consistently accurate levels leading to the eventual bankruptcy) and doesn't move to Apple because they acquired one (a couple of engineers in the case of C8) of the researchers. If they were planning on using this they probably would have bought a license from Sano, which would be the fastest way of getting it to market, instead of buying one of the researchers. Furthermore this is a new technology and just like Googles glucose lens it still has to undergo years of testing and further refinement before it gets FDA approval (if you build a machine from existing tech it can even take as long as 7 months so...). I rather think they just needed people with a lot of experience in sensors, f.e. that person also developed a patch that measures heart beat, blood pressure, skin temperature, stress detection, ... Stuff like that seems more likely. The glucose patch (just like Googles lens) is estimated to be at least 5 years away from market introduction.

What is possible is that you manually enter glucose levels so you can keep track of it. Or at most like S Health be capable of integrating with third-party glucosemeters via Bluetooth.Edited by Chipsy - 2/1/14 at 9:08am

From what I remember reading (sorry, forgot the source) it seems as though they plan to use a microneedle array of some sort that measures interstitial fluid (basically the fluid in the tissue but outside of your blood vessels). Apparently it just feels like sandpaper. Needless to say, if Apple can get the FDA to approve it as a replacement for finger sticks this will be truly revolutionary.